Hook, Corona

This is the type of hook used by the U.S. Air Force's 6594th Test Group to help accomplish the mid-air recovery of film return capsules or "buckets" ejected from orbit by Corona photoreconnaissance satellites. Eight of these hooks were attached to a trapeze-like mechanism lowered from the rear cargo door of the recovery aircraft, and they snagged the parachute shroud or lines. Recovery of Corona capsules took place in daylight, between 500 and 10,000 feet, over the Pacific Ocean near the Hawaiian Islands. Over 120 Corona satellites were successfully launched from 1960-1972, at which time the program ended. This hook was donated by Robert Flavell in 1991.